Tony Iommi admitted that after Vol. 4, the band was tired, and it was hard for them to get inspired for writing the next album until he stumbled onto the main riff of the song that would become the title track for their fifth album. Well, it sure worked. In some ways I think it's even more inventive than their previous album, Vol. 4 - while the songs are unquestionably metal, there's more use of unconventional 'metal' instruments - acoustics play a bigger part on this album than ever before (the title track, "Spiral Architect", and one of their longest instrumental pieces to date, "Fluff"), and piano and synthesizer add textures to other songs like "Sabra Cadabra" and "Who Are You?". There's still a lot of the trademark power-chord riffing, like on the title track and "Killing Yourself to Live". I think the guitar sound was quite thin throughout, though, sapping some energy from the final product. Still, though not their best album, it's far from their worst, and again, certainly one of their most adventurous.

© 1999 lord vic